The Not-so-Sweet Version

10Apr

I definitely tried to be prepared.

As you know, I spent the week prior to race day eating lots of carbs and drinking lots of water..

The day before the race, I really loaded up on carbs. I had two bagels for breakfast, along with my banana and yogurt. For lunch I had a bag of rice. For snack I had a potato. For dinner I had some spaghetti. And for an evening snack I had lots of popcorn. By the end of the day, I never wanted to see a carb again.

Yet I woke up at 4:30am the day of the race to eat another bagel and banana. I drank a little coffee and a bottle of water.

Before heading to the starting line, I stretched, rolled, and stretched some more.

Hubby knew his job and did it well!

By 6:30am, after using the restroom multiple times, I was in my corral.

As I looked at all the “professional” racers in Corral A, I wasn’t sure if I should be part of their group. But then I scolded myself for having such thoughts, and told myself of course I am part of this group!

The elite group started first, and three minutes later, our group was set free!

I was surprised at how many people took off running at high speed. I didn’t let myself get caught up with them. I chose not to run with my iPhone so I could enjoy all the sights and sounds of the race, but that meant no App Lady telling me what my pace was. I basically was running where I felt comfortable.

I knocked the first few hills out without a problem. Especially since I had the downhills to recover. And by the time I got to Holy Hill I was feeling great. My knee didn’t hurt, I wasn’t fatigued, and I was proud that the carbs were doing their job.

So I booked my way up Holy Hill, wondering in the back of my mind if I could possibly be one of the fastest. By the time I got to the top, I was completely out of breath, but I had the downhill to recover once again.

That was mile 8. By mile 10, we’d had two more big hills to climb, and my quads were feeling it. The cramping forced me to stop three times to loosen them up. I finished the last mile very strong, and was proud of my 1:48:22 time and being second in my age group to make it up Holy Hill.

We headed back to the hotel almost immediately. I was ready for a shower and looking forward to lunch at Pappy’s.

After my shower, however, my stomach began cramping up. I laid down a bit, hoping it would go away, but no luck.

We headed to Pappy’s anyway, where my hubby enjoyed a nice meal of pulled pork, and I enjoyed the luxury of the bathrooms.

We boxed up my meal, and he kindly drove me home while I slept.

Once home, I spent the rest of the day between the bathroom and the couch. I was in so much pain, that I thought an ER trip was going to be in order.

I mentioned that I may be dehydrated, so hubby gathered some information off the internet and immediately brought me some water and made me drink. I started off with small sips, as everything hurt me. But as the evening went on, he forced me to drink more and more. I obliged, even when doing so made my stomach hurt more. At this point, I was ready for a trip to the ER where they could just give me an IV and make it all go away. After many hours of drinking water, I could feel the pain subside, so I knew it was working.

I stayed on the couch all night, drinking water whenever I awoke. By morning, I was no longer visiting the bathroom as often and the cramps were noticeably weaker. I still decided it best not to go into work. I hated making that call, knowing that I was letting the race beat me.

I spent all of Monday on the couch as well. I made myself some jello but could only muster a few bites. Then my hubby brought me some chicken noodle soup where I downed a whole 4 spoonfuls before pushing it aside.

Later I asked my son to go uptown for some saltines. I managed to force 6 of those down, and surprisingly felt much better after that. It was then, that I felt well enough to turn on my computer to see how I finished and to share the news with you.

I’m doing better today. I awoke hungry, so I ate some cereal and then took a shower. I decided to push off going into work one more day. I’m still on the couch, but at least I’m upright.

18 responses to “The Not-so-Sweet Version”

Well, if you can work out what happened and how to prevent it happening again (maybe glug a couple of pints of Pepsi on the way round? No?) I don’t see that this should stop you trying again. You did so well this time, afterall!

Wow. That’s NOT the way I would have pictured you finishing the run. I am sorry that you were knocked down for a bit but glad to hear you are getting better. I’ve heard some people get sick or twisted up on the inside from all that running, especially the full marathoners, but I’ve been lucky and dodged that bullet (don’t run as fast or hard as you did). With all the training and mileage you’ve clocked, I figured you’d be the last person to get sick. I did get sick after my second run, but I think that was more of a flu/virus than from the run itself (although, running 13.1 in the cold did help matters).

I think that the stress from the running, some dehydration, the lean diet all combined to really mess up the system. Glad you were able to rehydrate without having to hit the ER. Take time to rest and recuperate and get your legs back under you. I hope you are up to do a repeat next year but I understand your hesitation. Only you can make that call. Sounded like a nice run and you really crushed the course. Sorry to have it end up on a sour note afterwards.

I know I pushed myself on Sunday – especially up the hill. In fact, all my practice runs were on fairly flat ground, so ANY hills would have required a bit more effort. But my average pace at home was 7:45, so I was used to that speed. And even the 12 miler at a 7:53 pace didn’t affect me the way Sunday did. So I, too, was a little shocked to be going through so much pain after.
I’m not giving up, although I haven’t broken the news to my hubby yet. I’m all about figuring out what I need to do to be able to finish strong. I think Abby may be on to something actually….

I agree with Abby and you. Perhaps the system wasn’t used to those many carbs at one time and then the run on top of all of that. I think that, if that was your normal diet, it might not have crashed your system. When I have gone carb heavy, I found that it tended to make one a wee bit “gassy”. I’d stick with what you normally eat and supplement with some extra carbs.

It certainly isn’t used to those kinds of carbs, and that many in one setting. I guess that’s why they say you should practice your eating along with your running. It makes me feel better knowing what the cause was. Now I’m looking forward to the next one so I can redeem myself.

Oh yuck. Not the best end to your story, but at least it happened AFTER the race, right? I know you were very thoughtful on what you ate leading up to race day. Was it a big change from what you normally eat? That might be a factor.

It was even 2-3 hours after the race. It just hit suddenly.
And yeah – I don’t normally eat a bag of rice, or snack on a potato, or stuff myself with spaghetti before running, so that very well may have been it. In fact, the day before my 12 mile run, I ate like I normally do, and I was fine – even my usual dose of ice cream didn’t affect me like all the articles say it should.
So loading up on carbs and NOT eating my ice cream was probably NOT the thing to do before the race. Who’da thunk? I may have to rethink my strategy for the next time. (’cause I’m too stubborn not to have a next time.)

I just don’t think it was the distance or speed that did you in, you had prepared so thoroughly. I know that whenever I’ve felt bad after a run, it’s often food’s fault. (I give my students the same advice before a big test – don’t do anything TOO different). And sounds like you felt really bad! Stranger Danger!
Glad you’re feeling better!

Oh, no! I’m so sorry you felt so miserable after finishing your race! Sure made it impossible to celebrate, didn’t it? I’ll bet you do some research about what might have caused your symptoms and end up giving it another shot next year! 🙂

Definitely hard to celebrate – and even harder to convince my hubby that this is fun for me! 🙂
I’ll be researching for sure, but more likely, I’ll be doing some test runs to see what works for ME. I doubt that this will keep me from doing another one. (I say that now that I feel 100% better!)

Oh, honey. You run so I don’t have to, don’t you. But if it affected you that badly, how can it be that good for you? If you were thinking ER, it hardly seems worth it, and to miss work also. . . . But there’s no way hubby will be able to stop the insanity when the next race comes up.

My hubby says the same thing to me – how can running that far be good for you?! I don’t really have a good answer, except that I love the challenge and the feeling of accomplishing something that’s so difficult. And feeling the way I did on Sunday was very unusual for me. I’ll figure out what caused it, so it doesn’t happen again. That’s part of the thrill!
Now you just sit back and relax and enjoy your non-cancerous self, while I go out for a run. For me AND you. 😉

Oh my goodness! Two sides of the story… first of all congratulations! YOU ROCK! You are amazing! Way to go! That’s so cool! I am proud of you and even with the “consequences” I am sure you are too! That is awesome… and then… I am sorry… How scary that must have been! For you and your wonderful hubby! I I am glad you are feeling better and you managed to recover 😦 You are one strong gal!

Well, it’s about time you turn up!
Oh, I mean… thanks TLI! I’m having a hard time trying to figure out if I’m proud of myself or disappointed that it didn’t end with a good meal at Pappy’s. I’m sure it scared my hubby more than me.
I feel 100% better now, and am ready to start running again. The storms kept me inside today, otherwise I would have hit the road this morning.
Enough about me, though. What’s going on with you??